Paper 'flaws'

A spokesman said: "Official figures show that corporation tax raised £2.6bn in 2009-10, so repeating the UK government's claim that cutting corporation tax could wipe out the entire revenue is clearly wrong.

"We will set out the flaws in the HMRC paper in our document."

He added: "Research shows that reducing the corporation tax rate in Northern Ireland can actually boost tax revenues, create new jobs and substantially raise the standard of living - and there is no reason why the effects in Scotland would be any different."

The Scotland Office said the PwC report was "an important contribution" to the debate on the potential devolution of corporation tax in Scotland.

A spokesman said: "It is essential that this is not only a conversation between governments but also that those in the business world make their views known.

"We are currently waiting for the Scottish government to produce its consultation paper on this issue which it said it would do before the summer.

"There are a number of outstanding questions which need to be addressed and the debate on this issue has to engage with the reality of hard facts and figures."

He added: "The UK government will not do anything to harm Scotland's interests and will read the responses of Scottish business with interest."